7:20 am – Good morning, Silvertips fans, and welcome to live Silvertips coverage of the 2013 WHL Bantam right here at www.EverettSilvertips.com! I’m your host for this morning’s action, Silvertips play-by-play broadcaster Travis Huntington. We’ll be updating you througout the morning and into the afternoon on all the action around Everett’s selections today and keeping an eye on other action around the league.

Remember to refresh this page often for the latest updates, and off we go!!! You can also follow @WHLSilvertips on Twitter for up-to-the-moment tweets on all of the latest draft action.

Round 1

7:31 am – The Silvertips will pick 7th in the first round after the WHL’s six non-playoff teams from last season. In each sucessive round, the Silvertips will pick fourth (barring the picks that have changed hands through trades, of course.) Everett is set to make 12 picks overall, including one in each round except the fifth and sixth. The ‘Tips hold two fifth-round selections and do not have a pick in the sixth round.

7:48 am – Three forwards and one defenseman off the board so far, with Prince George taking Duncan, BC defender Josh Anderson at #3. Anderson is already 6-2 and 190 pounds… at 14 years old!

7:51 am – The Moose Jaw Warriors have another Howden on their roster, taking Quinton Howden’s younger brother Brett with the fifth pick. Quinton is a former Warriors’ star now a prospect for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.

7:55 am – We’ve got our first trade of the morning, with Lethbridge sending the 6th pick to Brandon in exchange for veteran goalie Corbin Boes and the 17th pick. The ‘Tips are coming up next!

7:59 am – Silvertips Head Scout Bil La Forge takes the stage to announce that Everett has selected forward Tyson Jost with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. Hailing from Leduc, Alberta, Jost becomes the 11th first-round selection in franchise history. Welcome to the club, Tyson!

8:04 am – As usual, Alan Caldwell (author of the Small Thoughts at Large blog) is doing a fantastic job compiling and posting stats from this year’s bantam draft picks. Here are Tyson Jost’s numbers from this season:

Tyson Jost – F, 5’9″, 169 lb

GP

G

A

Pts

PIM

Pursuit Of Excellence (Kelowna) (OMAHA bantam AAA)

49

77

79

156

71

Pursuit Of Excellence (Kelowna) (St. Albert AAA bantam trnmt)

6

10

4

14

15

Edmonton South (Alberta Cup)

5

5

7

12

2

8:12 am – A Good showing for Alberta-born prospects so far, with six of the top 12 picks hailing from AB. Joining those six are three players from British Columbia, two from Manitoba and one from Saskatchewan. 8 of the top 12 have been forwards, while four have been defensemen.

8:24 am – Just got off the phone with Head Scout Bil La Forge, who offered some thoughts on Tyson Jost: “He’s a very competitive player who doesn’t lose many puck battles. He has excellent ability with and without the puck, and when he has the puck, he has the ability to finish himself or to find his teammates. Tyson’s greatest strength is his hockey sense.”

“He’s a player we identified early on, and he was definitely the top player from our rankings still on the board. We were pleasantly surprised to get him with the seventh pick and couldn’t be happier to get him in the organization.”

8:34 am – We’ve finally got a goaltender off the board, as the Lethbridge Hurricanes select Stuart Skinner – another Alberta product from Edmonton – with the 17th pick acquired in the earlier trade with Brandon. So far that is the only trade of the morning in Calgary. It will be interesting to see if the wheeling-and-dealing picks up in the coming rounds…

8:47 am – The first round has come to an end, with Seattle using the pick they acquired from Portland in the Marcel Noebels trade last year to take center Kaden Elder from the Notre Dame Hounds bantam program. The Thunderbirds used their earlier first-round pick (8th overall) to take defenseman Dante Fabbro from Coquitlam, BC.

Round 2

9:05 am – The second round is underway, with Vancouver making its third selection of the draft already to take defenseman Ryely Mckinstry. The Silvertips are coming up very soon with the 26th overall pick!

9:10 am – With the fourth pick in the second round (#26), the Silvertips have taken 5-foot-10 center Patrick Khodorenko from Walnut Creek, CA. Welcome to the franchise, Patrick!

9:15 am – Becoming the first team to take an American-born player in this draft, the Silvertips have resumed their emphasis on recruiting inside the U.S. After taking only eight Americans in their first nine bantam drafts, the Silvertips took four Americans in last year’s draft.

9:25 am – It looks like Khodorenko played his AAA bantam hockey in Detroit last year for the Honeybaked Hockey Club. Which is awesome. Anybody feel like ham this morning? Can’t find any defintive stats for him yet, but we’ll be looking to see if we can come up with some. He’s listed at 5-10, 161 pounds and is an October birthday.

More on Khodorenko: – Looks like he helped the Honeybaked 98 team to the USA Hockey Tier I 14-and-Under National Championship this season! CLICK HERE for the story. – Thoughts from Head Scout Bil La Forge: ““We had Patrick rated as one of the elite players at the top of this draft. He’s a guy that can score goals and distribute the puck well. He has played for elite programs for the last two years and was a team leader on the National Championship Honeybaked team. He had back-to-back hat tricks in the national tournament, which shows that he is the type of player who is capable of filling the net.”“Right now we’re looking for a chance to show him our program and we certainly hope that he sees the Silvertips and the WHL as a positive option. He will be a difference maker for us if he comes to Everett, much like our selection of Auston Mathews last year.”

Round 3

9:38 am – Off to the third round we go, with Everett picking 51st. The Silvertips’ original selection goes to Kamloops in the trade for JT Barnett in November 2011, but the ‘Tips still own Moose Jaw’s selection only three picks later from the trade involving goaltender Luke Siemens in October 2011.

9:52 am – A quick sidenote, as Mitch Skapski’s younger brother Marshall (a defenseman) was taken by Medicine Hat with the 54th pick. He could be the third brother in the family to make the WHL, joining Mitch Kootenay Ice goaltender MacKenzie.

9:59 am – Tracked down a YouTube video of young Mr. Astasiewicz in action with his Salmon Arm Tier 2 Bantam club. The video was posted by Indiana Ice (USHL) scout Dan Sallows, who also has some comments on his game.CLICK HERE to watch. Their BCHL team is called the Silverbacks (like the gorilla), but the minor hockey clubs in Salmon Arm are known as… the Silvertips! Might as well stay a Silvertip, right Alex?

More on Astasiewicz: – Silvertips Head Scout Bil La Forge on Astasiewicz: “Alex is a big, strong, steady D-man who has some offensive upside to his game. Next year he’ll be playing for the same midget team that Kevin Davis played for this year (the BCMML Thompson Blazers out of Kamloops, BC), and he even played a few games for them this season. We’ve had our eyes on him all year and had him targeted to be gone a little earlier, but jumped all over it when he was still there for our third pick.”

– USHL Scout Dan Sallows’ thoughts on Astasiewicz from November:“Alex Astasiewicz is a smooth-skating defensemen that is blessed with good size and possesses all the attributes of tremendous puck-moving blueliner. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Bantam has incredible hands, a high hockey IQ, excellent vision, a good shot, utilizes his stick well when defending, isn’t overly physical but hits when the opportunity arises, makes smart decisions with the puck, rarely panics, and has a very good work ethic. Astasiewicz could be an elite defensemen one day if he puts in the work, as he has an outstanding all-round skill set.”

Round 4

10:06 am – The fourth round is underway. Everett owns the 81st pick, which originally belonged to the Tri-City Americans and was acquired in trade for forward Jesse Mychan last January. The Silvertips’ pick goes to the Red Deer Rebels in the trade that brought Lucas Grayson to the ‘Tips.

10:09 am – With the second pick in round four, the Calgary Hitmen select goaltender Kyle Dumba. Kyle is a Calgary native and the younger brother of Red Deer defenseman Matt Dumba, who was selected 7th overall in last year’s NHL Draft by the the Minnesota Wild.

10:31 am – The Silvertips use the 81st overall pick in the fourth round to select 5-foot-11, 168-pound left winger Kevin Jakisch from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Welcome to the Everett system, Kevin!

10:37 am – Round four has ended, but the ‘Tips will be back at it shortly with two picks in the fifth round. Stay tuned…

More on Jakisch: – His season stats courtesy of Alan Caldwell:

Kevin Jakisch – F, 5’11”, 168 lb

GP

G

A

Pts

PIM

Winnipeg Monarchs (WMHA major bantam AAA)

30

11

25

36

10

Winnipeg Monarchs AAA (Manitoba Bantam Showcase)

4

5

6

11

2

Winnipeg Monarchs (St. Albert AAA bantam trnmt)

5

3

1

4

6

Team Grey (Manitoba U16 P.O.E.)

– No Stats Available –

– Bil La Forge on Everett’s fourth-round pick:“Kevin is a hard, up-and-down winger who can bring some offense to your team as well. He had over a point a game this season, but he plays 200 feet and is certainly not a one-dimensional player. Our Manitoba regional scout, Doug Sinclair, had a loud voice at the draft table on this pick, because Kevin is a guy he really believes in. There’s a great deal to like about him.”

Round 5

10:41 am – The ‘Tips are up soon with their own pick in the fifth round (#92) and they will also select later in the fifth at #108. That pick was acquired from Brandon (who originally got it from Edmonton) in the trade that sent prospect forward Geordie Maguire to the Wheat Kings. Interestingly enough, Maguire was traded again earlier today, going from Brandon to the Regina Pats along with the Wheaties’ third-round pick. Brandon got “draft day considerations” in exchange; I have no idea what that means.

10:44 am – For the second year in a row, the Silvertips have selected a local product! Everett uses the 92nd pick to take defenseman Connor Nobach, who is from just up the road in Stanwood, WA! Nobach played last season with the LA Junior Kings Bantam AAA1 squad.

10:52 am – On an administrative note, we’re going to add more information on each Silvertips selection as we learn more about each player. To avoid bouncing around and confusing everyone, this info will be posted at the end of the round in which he was selected. For example, look at the end of our Round 2 posts (just after 9:25 am) for more information on Patrick Khodorenko.

11:02 am – With their second 5th-rounder (#108), the ‘Tips have taken 5-foot-11, 168-pound center Andrew Fyten of Didsbury, Alberta. Sounding like he’s the younger brother of former Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Austin Fyten, who split last season between the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads and AHL’s Texas Stars.

11:20 am – The fifth round has ended, which means it’s time for a lunch break in Calgary. Time for everyone to catch their breath and get back at it with the sixth round, but Everett won’t pick again until the seventh.

More on Nobach: – La Forge talks about the Stanwood native:“Nobach is a local kid that both Zoran Rajcic and Mitch Love identified as a top player during the Anaheim prospects camp. We see him as a D-man who is going to play quality minutes for us going forward in the future. The fact that he is local to the area certainly adds a special something to having him in the system, but that’s not why we drafted him. We like what he brings and I’m looking forward to seeing him at camp.”

More on Fyten: – La Forge’s thoughts:“Fyten is the Captain of his team. He’s got a lot of edge to his game and nothing but upside going forward. I see him as a guy who’s hard to play against, willing to go into the dirty areas for us and still has the ability to put some pucks in the net as well. I think he fits roughly into the Reid Petryk mold.”

Round 6

11:47 am – The brief lunch break is over and it’s back to work at the Bantam Draft, where the sixth round has commenced. This is the only round in which Everett does not have a pick, with our sixth rounder going to the Prince Albert Raiders when the ‘Tips acquired Teal Burns last season.

12:15 pm – The sixth round comes to an end, with four Americans coming off the board. This after three U.S. prospects were taken in the fifth round and two in the third. The later we go in the draft, the more likely teams will likely be to take chances on American players, who usually have a higher likelihood of considering the NCAA route and often take more recruiting to choose the WHL.

Round 7

12:19 pm – The Silvertips are back in the mix and ready to make the fourth pick in round seven. Barring any trades, the Silvertips now hold their own selection in each round for the remainder of the draft.

12:23 pm – Everett has used the 136th overall pick to select winger Keyvan Mokhtari from Burnaby, BC. The 5-foot-7, 135-pounder spent last season with the North Shore Winter Club, a program which has produced the likes of Gilbert Brule, Kyle Turris, Evander Kane and Stefan Elliot.

12:43 pm – The seventh round is starting to wind down now, so the ‘Tips will be up again soon early in the eighth round!

More on Mokhtari: – Mokhtari and the North Shore Winter Club made it all the way to the Western Canadian Bantam AAA Championship Game this year before falling to Tyler Benson (today’s #1 overall pick) and the Edmonton Southside Athletic Club in the Gold Medal Game. – Stats from Alan Caldwell:

Keyvan Mokhtari – RW, 5’7″, 135 lb

GP

G

A

Pts

PIM

North Shore Winter Club (PCAHA bantam AAA)

– No Stats Available –

North Shore Winter Club (St. Albert AAA bantam tnmt)

6

3

5

8

0

North Shore Winter Club (Western Cdn Bantam Champ.)

5

4

1

5

6

Kings (B.C. U-16 Cup)

4

1

1

2

0

Round 8

12:56 pm – The Silvertips have just made their 8th round selection, using the 158th overall choice on goaltender Carter Hart, who hails from just outside Edmonton in Sherwood Park, Alberta.

1:18 pm – Looks like the eighth round as come to an end and we’re off to the ninth!

More on Hart: – Looks like he was quite a busy guy this season, playing the second-most minutes of any AMBHL goalie at 1,285 minutes played. He also posted an 11-5-4 record with a 3.36 goals-against average, .908 saves percentage and one shutout.

Round 9

1:23 pm – In the ninth round at #180 overall, the ‘Tips have grabbed 6-foot-1 defenseman Ryan Warner from Victoria, British Columbia. Another Vancouver Island native to join Lucas Grayson on the club.

More on Warner: – Ryan’s Juan De Fuca Bantam club won the BC Bantam AA Provincial Championship, defeating West Kelowna in double overtime for the Gold Medal

Round 10

2:02 pm – It’s looking like the Silvertips have decided to pass on making the 202nd overall pick in the tenth round, and Everett may be done for the day…

2:18 pm – Just got confirmation from Assistant GM/Executive VP Zoran Rajcic that the Silvertips are done picking for the day and will stick with the nine new players they’ve added to the protected list today. We will still be going back to add some additional information about the picks and providing further recaps of this year’s Silvertips draft class.

3:25 pm – A handful of teams kept picking into the 12th round, but most were done after the tenth. As for the Silvertips, the team ended up with five forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender today. It was a fairly quiet day overall as far as trades are concerned, and Everett chose not to make any deals after swinging two draft-day trades during last year’s event. We’ve got nine new prospects to check out when training camp arrives in the fall and our first glimpse at some of the names that we hope will become WHL stars at Comcast Arena.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for today’s live coverage of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, and check back here at EverettSilvertips.com for the latest team news all offseason long!

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